Discrimination Against Christian Schools in California? ACSI Sues the University of California

Sunday • August 28, 2005

The Association of Christian Schools International and Calvary Chapel Christian School in Murrieta, CA have filed suit against the University of California, charging the giant state university system with discriminating against high schools that teach creationism and other Christian beliefs.
According to Saturday’s edition of The Los Angeles Times: Under a policy implemented with little fanfare a year ago, UC admissions authorities have refused to certify high school science courses that use textbooks challenging Darwin’s theory of evolution, the suit says.Other courses rejected by UC officials include “Christianity’s Influence in American History,” “Christianity and Morality in American Literature” and “Special Providence: American Government.”The 10-campus UC system requires applicants to complete a variety of courses, including science, mathematics, history, literature and the arts. But in letters to Calvary Chapel, university officials said some of the school’s Christian-oriented courses were too narrow to be acceptable.According to the lawsuit, UC’s board of admissions also advised the school that it would not approve biology and science courses that relied primarily on textbooks published by Bob Jones University Press and A Beka Books, two Christian publishers.Instead, the board instructed the schools to “submit for UC approval a secular science curriculum with a text and course outline that addresses course content/knowledge generally accepted in the scientific community.”
This would represent an unprecedented form of discrimination against Christian schools, Christian parents, Christian churches, and Christian students. The university system would be within its rights to require a measurable knowledge of material in various disciplines, so long as it is required of all students. But it has no right to dictate a secular perspective for a school’s curriculum. This is a lawsuit that demands a close watch. Its implications reach far beyond California.
LINKS TO SUE OVER: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, San Diego Union Tribune, Long Beach Press Telegram.